What was the first pen you sold?

Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad
cschimmel

cschimmel

Member
Joined
Dec 29, 2009
Messages
359
Location
Gilbert Arizona
Just for fun if anyone will join in.
What was the first pen you sold(kit and material)?
How much did you sell it for?
What year was it?
 
Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad
Slim line made with Corian. Last March. Turned my first pen the 5th of Feb. last year. Made and delivered 50 slim lines with a large center band, made with Bear Tooth Woods acrilic blanks called Toxic sludge. beautiful Green and black with gold hardware
 
I had made a lot of kit pens as gifts but hadn't sold any. The first one I sold was the original prototype puzzle pen that I had created (and own the copyright to) in about February 2005. It was walnut and maple interlocked pieces. I sold it for $80. I later did an acrylic and wood version and sold that one too.
 
First pen was a gold Cigar with Zebra wood to I guy I work with for $40 and he still has it and use it every day. How I want to replace it, used a friction polish on it, that was 3 years ago.
 
I bet you could kick yourself for selling that first one....it must be worth a pretty penny now.:wink:

I'll do you a favour.....the next prototype anything you make, I'll give you $80 for in a heartbeat!!! LOL, I might even stretch to $85 :biggrin:

btboone said:
I had made a lot of kit pens as gifts but hadn't sold any. The first one I sold was the original prototype puzzle pen that I had created (and own the copyright to) in about February 2005. It was walnut and maple interlocked pieces. I sold it for $80. I later did an acrylic and wood version and sold that one too.
Click to expand...
 
First pen I sold was a cigar rattlesnake. Blank was made by Don Ward, was my personal pen I was carrying. I went to sign some paperwork and pre register for a surgery. A lady in the waiting room asked me what it was. I showed her several pens I had with me. She bought the rattlesnake for her husband for Christmas. I sold it for 50.00. She has since ordered 2 other pens.

James
 
skiprat said:
I bet you could kick yourself for selling that first one....it must be worth a pretty penny now.:wink:

I'll do you a favour.....the next prototype anything you make, I'll give you $80 for in a heartbeat!!! LOL, I might even stretch to $85 :biggrin:
Click to expand...

Yup it was pretty rough by my normal standards. I didn't feel right charging more. I do wish I kept them now that there's others claiming to having come up with them, magazine articles showing them and giving others credit, and them piously demanding royalties and credit from others all the while lecturing others on copyright law. I do still have the original code and have the ability to source that out. A quick search in the archives of this forum will prove all of it.
 
I am not certain what pen sold first.

My first show was in 1998-99. At that show I sold several dozen rollerballs (similar to the "cheapys" at CSUSA now), dressed in several types of wood and acrylic. Pricing was $35 to $48.

Wood was finished with spray lacquer or friction polish, acrylics and the "then current version of a tru-stone look alike" was sanded to 1500 grit and plastic polish.

There was another penmaker at that show, using ONLY diamondwood.

The "hobby-industry" was a lot different. Dick Sing was showing a big innovation, CORIAN!! AND he was drilling holes in it and filling with a contrasting color of CORIAN!!! Man, the SKY was the LIMIT!!
 
First two sold simultaneously to two different people.

1) an Irish Bog Oak on a Platinum Big Ben (Cigar).
2) a Spaulted American Elm on a Gold Big Ben Rollerball.

I think I sold them both for $35 each. :eek:

I get to see the IBO Cigar on a regular basis. The IBO looks great, the Platinum looks great. The black enamel on the centerband is completely gone after 3 years of heavy daily use. And the customer still loves it.

In fact, here they are. Don't laugh, I didn't know anything about photos at the time and just laid them on my scanner with a piece of paper over them.:redface: (notice what's missing, proof I was just starting out)
 

Attachments

  • IMG.jpg
    IMG.jpg
    23.7 KB · Views: 167
Last edited:
My first pen sale was a closed ended gold Ti Baron with lapis true stone and a lapis finial on the cap. Charged $80 for it. I hoped it would spur on additional sales, and it did!

A friend of the recipient bought 6 more like it for Christmas presents at $150 each just a few weeks later, and it made enough profit for me to buy my lathe last month.

This hobby isn't going to make me rich or even make a meager living for me, but I now see that I can make enough to keep buying equipment and materials to make more pens and create some really wonderful segmented pens.
 
At my first little local craft show, had a restaurant owner but 2 pens, one for himself a chrome baron rollerball in Buck eye burl with a friction polish for $70 and a slim mesquite in 10K gold for his wife for $20,he gave me a $100 bill and said keep the change.
 
First pen I sold was a copper plated slimline. It was also the first segmented pen I made. Maple body with a walnut stripe down the center and a diagonal bloodwood ring on each barrel. I sold it for $65. I have a crappy cellphone picture of it, but it's on my other computer, which is down right now.
 
I made and sold my first pen around 1994, a slimline made with mesquite for $20. Gave a lot of the same away to co-workers. The only place I can remember you could buy kits was PSI (I'm sure there were others) and slimline and letter openers were just about all there was to choose from. I could be wrong about all this--sometimes anymore I can't remember yesterday.
 
I started turning pens in December of last year. Sold my first one 2 weeks after I started it was a standard 7mm pen, gold with stripe from Rockler. I used Zebra wood and a CA finish I got $20 for it from a co worker. From there I have sold her another one and many others at work. Now its time to move on and find the next batch of buyers. :)
 
The first pen I sold was a Slimline set in BOW with gunmetal plating sold it in August or September 2007 got a whopping 70.00 for the set. I saw the pen about 6 months ago it still looked fairly decent, I've replaced the guts in the pencil twice.
 
My wife was first to sell one of my pens. It was a cocobolo slimline. She sold it to another shopper while she was grocery shopping in Wal-Mart.
 
The first pen I sold was a Slimline made from English Yew for the handsome price if £10 way back in 2004, those were the days I used Hut wax sticks as a finish! :redface::biggrin:

HutPenPolish.jpg
 
I made my second pen on July 4 2009. I have since sold about 40 pens since then. All cigars with rhodium, cocobolo, CA finish. I have been getting 75.00ea. A few have been the elegant beauty, burl blank, CA finish. They were 90.00ea. Didn't start making them to sell them it just happened that way. Made a few as gifts & a wedding set out of olive that came from a tree in his yard.
 
I make pens just for fun to fill out gluing time... I use ebay slimline kits but always throw out the metal center band andthen turn the slimline pen to be fat in the middle. People already asked to buy them - but hey I can't part with them.
 
Actually I was refering to the one I made for the Austrailan girl helping to cover a pen swap that wasnt working out as planned. The OTHER pen is ready when you are.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom